Jeff's Corner - Badger Pass, California

To appreciate the skiing at Badger Pass is to also appreciate the history of skiing in California and the uniqueness of skiing inside what is arguably America's most beautiful national park, Yosemite.

Badger is California's oldest ski area, founded in, I believe, 1936. That it still operates means it is all the more special, since ski areas have gradually been pushed out of national parks and monuments. The area was originally opened as a way to introduce the wonders of winter in this largely alpine park. It is now run by a private concessionaire.

Badger sits above the spectacular Yosemite Valley, an arrangement of thousand-foot waterfalls and sheer granite cliffs. Though the valley is not visible from the ski area, the area is the jumping off point for a huge network of free XC ski trails, several of which lead to valley overlooks, including an overlook of famous Half Dome.

Skiing here is mainly for beginners and families. The area has four chairs and a rope tow and 800 feet of vertical.

The Bruin double chair serves a wide mostly flat beginner run.

The Badger chair serves two intermediate and one expert run.

The Red Fox and Eagle chairs run parallel serve intermediate and expert terrain and the terrain park.

The tow serves a beginner hill.

I skied Badger during an extremely heavy snowfall one day in March. I love the area even though the terrain is not particularly interesting. I also found the beginner slopes to be nearly flat, the intermediates to be more like beginners, and the experts to be more like intermediates.

The day I was there was so snowy, in fact (18 inches overnight and a foot the day before), that even intermediate runs were not steep enough to get any speed on. Though I think I skied (or poled my way down) all the 10 runs once (or twice) I spent most of my day on the Bruin chair skiing the steeper
slope under the lift.

I found Badger to be a very low key and stress free experience. It makes a fine pairing for a half day of skiing if you also want to tour the Yosemite Valley or any of Yosemite's other attractions which are open in the winter.

The area is about a five hour drive from San Fransicso. Services are availabe outside the park or in the Yosemite Valley, about 40 minutes away. It is open daily.

Incidentally, Badger's ski shop sells some of the coolest caps, shirts and stickers I've ever seen sold at a ski area.

Jeff Schmerker
Waynesville, NC

The base at Badger